A collection of short stories by Ivan Raley

A few years ago I was having some leg problems and was required to walk with a cane, I made it pretty well but I must say I did not like the cane following me wherever I went. I stopped at a Cracker Barrel to use their facility and to have breakfast; I registered with the lady at the desk, gave her my name and she said it would only be a minute so I went off to the facility. As I approached there were three young, looked like college students to me, men standing in the doorway, I asked them to excuse me and two of them politely moved out of the way and the third said, ‘Why don’t you die you old ____ and leave more air for the rest of us.’ The others laughed and I entered the restroom. As I was washing my hands I looked down at the walking cane and decided that I was going outside and teach the young smart mouth some respect. The longer I dried my hands the madder I became, I picked up the cane and swung it around, that would do the job I thought and left the restroom mad to the bone. Now God is really good, the young men had left, I didn’t go outside to check on the parking lot the lady was calling my name; my table was ready, better to eat breakfast than look for trouble. I was now safe, I would not get myself broken and beaten, but I was still mad.
When my breakfast came I bowed my head and thought, what is going on, what is wrong with this world, I can’t believe the thoughts I had, can’t believe the disrespect of the young man, can’t believe my own heart. What is wrong with me, I have never hit anyone in my life, never wanted to, what happened to my heart, my head, my relationship with the Lord. What has taken place in our world that would make such a small thing so very large? What had happened to that young man, had life been too easy, was he spoiled, untrained, untaught, just being smart, but why, why the disrespect, why the language, what has happened to our world. I know the problem is sin, but how did we let it slip into our lives and into the very fabric of our being? I am not sure what happened, but I sure don’t like what it has done to me and to the two students who laughed and the one who spoke, this is not life as I have always known it, I don’t know all that has happened but I sure don’t like it.
Ivan